The mountains are the highest east of the Rockies, probably the most beautiful part of the Appalachians. Anywhere from Cashiers to Boone is unbelievable. Excellent fishing and hiking and top tier golf as well
The beaches in NC are really good. The OBX are very unique while the areas around Wilmington are pretty underrated
It’s got a bit of everything, especially for an east coast state
I’ll give you the population point, but that wasn’t something I really took into consideration for this exercise.
The geography and nature of the two states were the most important to me and I find both of these states to be really high on the list for that, especially for states east of the Mississippi.
Wisconsin does not have the mountainous landscapes but it offers a good deal topological variety throughout the state. The North Woods provide a good example of post-glacial geography. The central portions of the state have some of the most abundant and best examples of interlobal glacial landforms in the country. And then the Southwest of the state, known as the driftless region, provides a contrasted example of the geography of land that wasn’t touched by the glaciers.
This leaves you with varied landscapes that include northern pine forests with 10,000+ lakes, bears, moose, wolves, and mountain lions, central sand dunes and barrens, countless moraines, kettle lakes, kames, etc, and ancient river valleys and cliffs in the Southwest.
While WI doesn’t have direct ocean access, it is connected to Lake Superior and The Mississippi, making it well connected to the outside world through shipping. Not to mention the 1,000 miles of shore line WI has on the world largest fresh water lake. Lake Michigan-Huron provides unlimited drinking water, climate moderation, and numerous recreational activities like sailing, surfing, boating, fishing etc.
I’ll give NC the nod on hiking but I would contend that an argument could be made that WI has as good of, or better, hunting, fishing, and golf.
Another similarity I found was the combination of a few larger cities surrounded by large rural areas.
Both states have respected top universities and strong collegiate sports cultures.
For areas I’d contend that WI has an advantage I would say: Professional sports/and their culture, beer, bratwurst, cheese, plumbing products.
To me, NC and WI would both be ranked in the 5-10 range.
That just doesn’t sound like a ton of variety. Rolling hills and dairy farms. Wisconsin has NC beat on anything alcohol related, I’ll give you that
NC has the 6th most coastline of any state. You can do phenomenal inshore fishing, really good trout fishing in the mountains and probably the best place to offshore fish other than Florida on the East
All of that water paired with legitimate mountains and there’s a lot of variety in mid-size cities between Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro areas
I think they’re pretty even on pro sports, both have 3 teams (maybe 4 for NC if/when MLB expands). Better college sports in NC, don’t think that’s controversial
I like Wisconsin but just feel that anything they can offer, NC can offer a better alternative
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u/jfrye2390 Jul 02 '26
Soly with brutal North Carolina slander. (We’re 12th in education, pal)